A single mother living in eastern Uzbekistan, Odina Rahmonova was delighted when she was told recently that she was selected for a special social-housing program for women from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Ahead of International Women's Day last month, Shavkat Abdurazakov -- the governor of Namangon Province where Rahmonova lives -- announced that 110 widows, single mothers, and other low-income women would receive money they could use to live in homes for up to five years.
At a public gathering on March 3, Abdurazakov presented the women with special certificates granting them the social housing assistance.
But more than a month later, only a handful of the women have moved into new homes, while several others accuse local officials of trying to profit from the women's social benefit or denying them the money altogether.
Rahmonova said she was hoping to live in a new home "with running water and gas," but the head of her local neighborhood committee in the Uchteppa district told her to buy an old, dilapidated house that belongs to his in-laws.
"Each woman was allocated [some] $8,870, and this money is enough to get a proper home in our area, but local officials are only offering places in run-down buildings," she told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service.
Rahmonova said she agreed to transfer the money to the local official's relatives and move into their ramshackle home because she doesn't have anywhere else to go.
The 28-year-old mother of three says she currently lives in a rented, mudbrick house and the landlord has demanded she move out.
'A State Of Disrepair'
Ten of the 110 women selected for the housing scheme come from Namangon's Uchqurghon district.
"Only two of us received new homes, and district officials are trying to move the rest of us into shabby buildings," said Shahnoza Davidova, a 37-year-old raising two small children alone since her husband died in unexplained circumstances while in police custody in 2018.
"We were supposed to receive about $8,800 each, but the authorities transferred about $8,407 to our accounts. Now, for that money they're offering us dilapidated homes that cost about $4,400 to $5,200 on the market. Besides, it's impossible to live in those buildings," Davidova said.
Another woman on the list is Gulchehra Omonova, a 28-year-old single mother of two from the Turaqurghon district.
Omonova said the house she has been offered "is in state of disrepair and doesn't have a toilet."
She added that she would agree to get "any house, even a very old house," as long as it's habitable.
"But the places local officials were showing us are not livable at all," she said. "I go to the authorities every week with this issue but they just drag it on and on, telling me each time that some document they want from me is missing."
RFE/RL contacted local government officials in Namangon but did not get a response.
Some of the women claimed the terms of ownership of the social housing they will receive wasn't made entirely clear to them.
In his March speech, Abdurazakov explained that the eligible women and their families can stay up to five years in their new homes. The women would not own the homes, which would still be considered state property.
In 2021, the Uzbek government issued a decree aimed at providing social housing support to women from disadvantaged backgrounds, including young women who have lost both or one of their parents.
As part of those measures, the document ordered local governments to purchase 1,000 homes for the women in need.
But some residents told RFE/RL that in several regions the social houses earmarked for the women were given to local officials' relatives instead.
RFE/RL cannot independently verify those claims.
